Meaning of the Mantra

May we live God-given span of life with firm limbs and bodies, singing your praises.

May the traditionally glorified Indra bless us.

May the all-knowing Sun bless us.

May Vayu, protector from harm, bless us.

May Brhaspati bless us.

Om Peace Peace Peace.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRAYER

This peace invocation starts with Om as in all others. Om represents the supreme Self. It is the ultimate goal of human existence. The guru preceptor and the sisya disciple pray together for that experience.

O gods! O worshipful ones -- The Prayer is directed to Indra, Pusan, Vayu and Brhaspati. These were some of the gods that people worshipped in those days.

The prayer directs the eyes to see auspicious sights. In Upanisadic literature one sense organ is used to represent all of them. So the implication is let all the sense organs perceive only that which is auspicious.

The prayer asks for healthy limbs to function perfectly. To sing praises to Brahman indicates that the actions perpetrated by the limbs must be of divine nature. The reference to Vayu and Indra is a subtle indication to the pranas and the mind respectively. Vayu is the wind-God which represents the vital-air sheath, pranas. Indra represents the mind by virtue of his being the king of the sense organs. The Sun and Brhaspati refer to the gross and subtle intellects respectively. to the devotional seekers the prayer is merely directed to various gods. The intellectual aspirant finds that all the aspects of his personality -- namely the physical body, senses, pranas, mind and intellect -- are covered in the prayer. They are to be in perfect condition for use, in the spiritual pursuit, by both the master and student.

Stimuli from the external world reach you through the organs of perception. Colour and form enter through eyes, sound through ears, smell through nose, taste through tongue and touch through skin. Having entered therein the stimuli react with your mind and intellect. The type of reaction that will set in will depend upon the type of stimulus contacted and the nature of mind and intellect reacting with it. Consequent to the reaction your mind and intellect send out responses back into the world through your organs of action.

The prayer has covered the receipt of stimuli, the reaction within and the responses. All three have to be tuned in perfectly for spiritual Enlightenment,

May we live our allotted span of life -- a cry of all spiritual seekers. The Upanisad directs the students to live a hundred years. This indicates that a full term of life is necessary and is sought by aspirants for pursuing and reaching the goal of God-realisation.

20 August, 2012

Introduction

Yoga Nidra is one of the most powerful methods, not only for inducing deep relaxation in a minimum amount of time, but also for reawakening the degenerated brain nuclei and centers. One hour of yoga nidra is equal to four hours of sleep. The practice of yoga nidra is not only for those who are physically mentally exhausted. It is also for those who tired of taking rest and those who have little interest in life. Yoga nidra will rejuvenate and revive the physical, mental and emotional personality. It will help those with tamasic nature by inducing and extra influx of blood and energy. The practice of yoga nidra is particularly recommended for spiritual aspirants who suffer from fear, tension, anger, greed and other imbalances. It is also for those who want to develop greater awareness and mental clarity.

In the borderline yoga nidra state, between sleep and wakefulness, you make contact with the subconscious and unconscious mind where all your past memories are stored. Those experiences that were particularly negative or painful have been pushed deep into the unconscious, beyond conscious recall.

It is recommended that, for the first few times, you practice yoga nidra is a class environment with a teacher to give directions. Then you will understand the purpose of the technique more fully and will be better acquainted with the method of practicing each stage. If you do not have access to a yoga teacher, try to obtain a class recording.

In yoga nidra, you do not sleep. You must remain aware throughout the practice and try to follow all the instructions without intellectualizing. Of course one can also use yoga nidra as a prelude to sleep. If one practises for 20 or 30 minutes before sleeping the quality of the sleep will be greatly improved.

Sankalpa

During yoga nidra a resolve or sankalpa is made. It should be something of immense importance to you. Repeat it mentally three times with feeling and emphasis. It is best if your sankalpa has a spiritual objective, but you can also make a resolve to break a habit or to improve some aspect of your personality. In yoga nidra the resolutions and decisions we make and the thoughts we create, become potentially powerful. They go into the depths of the subconscious and in the course of time they will definitely become realities.

Techniques

Preparation

Get ready for yoga nidra. Lie down in shavasana, the dead man's pose and make yourself as comfortable as possible. Keep your feet apart and let them fall a little to the sides, arms slightly away from the body with the palms of the hands facing upwards. Make sure your position and clothing are comfortable so that you will not need to move during the practice.

Close your eyes and do not open them at all until the practice is completed.

Make any final adjustments to your posture and clothing now.

During yoga nidra you must try to remain aware. Do not allow yourself to sleep. Say to yourself mentally, "I will not sleep".

Now take a deep breath and as you breath in, feel calmness spreading throughout the body. As you breathe out, let your whole body relax completely.

Relaxation

Become aware of your body lying on the floor in total stillness.

Awareness of the whole body from the tips to the toes to the top of the head. Let each part of the body relax completely. Make sure there is no tension anywhere.

Awareness of all the parts of the body which are in contact with the floor. Awareness of the arms, the hands and the floor, the elbows and the floor, shoulder blades and the floor... Awareness of the legs, the heel in contact with the floor, the calf muscles and the floor, back of the thighs and the floor, buttocks and the floor... Awareness of all parts of the back which are in contact with the floor. The head resting on the floor... Awareness of every part of the body which is in contact with the floor.

Feel that the whole body is becoming very heavy. Awaken the feeling of heaviness in every part of the body. The whole body is feeling so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor. Awareness of heaviness.

Experience the feeling of lightness in the body. The whole body is feeling so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor.

Experience this lightness.

Resolve or Sankalpa

Now is the time to make your resolve. You must find a resolve for yourself and repeat it mentally three times. Repeat it to yourself when emphasis ad feeling. Remember that the resolve you make in yoga nidra is bound to come true.

Rotation of consciousness

Rotate your awareness to all the different parts of the body. As each part of the body is named, without any physical moment, take your awareness to that part. Your awareness is to jump from point to point as quickly as possible.

Become aware of the right hand thumb. The right hand thumb, second finger, third, fourth, little finger, back of your hand, palm, wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, armpit, right side of the chest, right side of the waist, the right hip...

Become aware of the left hand thumb. The left hand thumb, second finger, third, fourth, little finger, back of the hand, palm, wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, armpit, left side of the chest, left side of the waist, the left hip...

Become aware of the right big toe. The right big toe, second toe, third, fourth, little toe, top of the foot, sole of the foot, heel, ankle, calf muscle, the knee, thigh, the right buttock...

Become aware of the left big toe. The left big toe, second, toe, third, fourth, little toe, top of the foot, sole of the foot, heel, ankle, calf muscle, the knee, thigh, the left buttock...

Awareness of the right buttock, the left left buttock, the whole of the back, lower portion of the back, middle portion of the back, upper portion of the back, the right shoulder blade, left shoulder blade, the whole of the neck, the back of the head, and the whole of the face...

Awareness of the chin, the lower lip, upper lip, right cheek, left cheek, right ear, left ear, the nose, right nostril, left nostril, tip of the nose, the right eye, the left eye, right eyelid, left eyelid, right eyebrow, left eyebrow, the forehead, the eyebrow center.

Awareness of eyebrow centre...

(You can repeat rotation of consciousness once or twice more if you need to further relax the body).

Awareness of the whole of the right leg, whole of the left leg, both legs together... Whole of the right arm, whole of the left arm, both arms together... Whole of the back, whole of the front, whole of the head... The whole body together, the whole body... the whole body...

(Note: Yoga Nidra
is a Sanskrit term that means the light, wakeful sleep of an accomplished
practitioner yoga and meditation).

What is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra is a powerful
meditation technique where the mind remains conscious during the normally
"unconscious" state associated with deep sleep.

Practice in the
lying position, it is one of the most popular yoga meditation techniques
because it induces a profoundly deep state of rest. It is effortless,
enjoyable, soothing and recuperative.

As it is
practiced today, Yoga Nidra is a technique that carries awareness deep into
you, layer by layer. This process is called "introversion", or pratyahara
in Sanskrit. The pratyahara of Yoga Nidra induces deep relaxation.

Thousands use Yoga Nidra scripts to
relax and meditate.

Yoga Nidra takes
your awareness deep into parts of you that you normally cannot access because
of tensions. You systematically relax each part of your physical body and then
move your awareness to the more subtle layers, your emotions and deeper mind,
in order to relax these parts.

Insufficient Rest and Poor Sleep Causes
Heart Disease.

Rest is the foundation of a Happy and
Health life. And yet millions of people around the world are suffering from the
effects of busy lifestyles, stress, overwork and fatigue. They work unable to
rest, recharge and rejuvenate themselves.

Many people have lost their ability to
replenish themselves through good quality sleep. Millions of people are
clinically sleep-deprived or suffering from sleep disorders.

Work Hard, Party Hard.

We have become blind to the importance
of sleep. "Work hard, party hard" is an accepted way of life in our
modern 24 x 7 lifestyle. Sleep is given a low priority. It is seen as a
weakness or something that gets in the way of life rather than as the foundation
of a healthy and full life.

Sleep needs to be redefined as an
activity to be treated with the utmost respect, like exercise and a good diet.
Sleep, and our inability to relax and rest deeply, is the basis of a good life.

Sleep Statistics

The National Commission on Sleep
Disorders Research in America has labelled 'insomnia' is a silent epidemic
staggering proportions".

30-40% of people in the USA and
Australia have insomnia and poor quality of sleep each month.

40-70% million American experience
either chronic or intermittent sleep-related problems costing $15 billion in
health care and $500 billion in lost productivity.

Sleeplessness is a chronic problem for
one in ten Australians, over 2 millions people.

Approximately 5 - 10% of people use
prescribed sleeping pills. Another 5 - 10% of people use over-the-counter
prescriptions. an unknown number of people use alcohol and other substance at
night to try to help them sleep.

And yet these attempts to sleep well
usually do not provide the deep rest and recuperation we seek.

How much Restful Sleep do you Need?

The amount of
sleep and rest in each of us need is different. There is consensus that for the
majority of people six hours sleep is a minimum. However, the best way to judge
if you have had sufficient rest and sleep is to feel how tired you are and how
you well or poorly you perform during the day.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Going to long
without sleep diminishes your ability to function. It's like being drunk. Extended
periods of sleep deprivation result in the brain shutting down. We are unable
to make accurate judgements and in extreme cases this can result in
hallucinations.

Lack of rest
and untreated sleep disorders:

1) reduces
quality of life,

2) lower productivity
in school and workplace,

3) increase the
chance of ill-health and death from heart disease, diabetes, depression and
obesity,

4) increase the
risk of accidents associated with excessive sleepiness.

5) increase the
risk of accidents associated with excessive sleepiness.

Professor
Charles A Czeisler from Harvard Medical School states that in the United States
80,000 people fall asleep at the wheel every day, an average of one person
every second. Every two minutes one of those people crashes.

Research is now
showing that lack of rest and the resultant burnout and depletion of energy is
a major factor in a number of chronic illness, especially in heart and blood
vessel disease.

Major Sleep Research

Recent medical
research from Holland (2011) studied over 20,000 men and women for over 12
years. They showed that poor quality combined with insufficient sleep time is
linked with massive increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

Sleep Research Findings

They discovered
that short sleepers (6 hours or less) had a 15% higher risk of cardiovascular
disease (disease of the blood vessels) and a 23% higher risk of heart disease
(coronary artery disease) compared with people with normal sleep duration
(seven to eight hours).

Researches
found no association between poor quality sleep and cardiovascular disease. It
was the combination of poor quality and short duration that caused the problem.

People who had
a combination of poor quality sleep and short duration sleep had a massive 65%
higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and an 85% higher risk of heart disease
than people with a normal sleep duration and good sleep quality.

Sleep Research Conclusion

This means that
insufficient good quality sleep and lack of rest leads to exhaustion, which
sets up the perfect conditions for degenerative illness.

Good sleep has
to be experienced most nights if we are to function to the best of our
potential and remain free of disease.

Get Extra Sleep Credits

Practicing
relaxation techniques like Yoga Nidra in the morning following a bad night's
sleep may prevent cadiovascular disease and heart disease.

Techniques such
as Yoga Nidra allows us to gain deep rest and this diminish the damage that
occurs t the body when it is exhausted.

If you wake
feeling tired or exhausted in the morning the best thing you can do is to rest
deeply with yoga Nidra before the day begins. This will give you the extra
sleep credits your body needs

to maintain
itself and keep you healthy and relaxed.

Although it
does not replace normal sleep, 30 minutes of yoga Nidra is the equivalent of 3
yo 4 hours of sleep.

30 minutes of Yoga Nidra is the
equivalent of 3 to 4 hours of sleep

Removing Deep-Seated Tensions

Tensions block
awareness and energy. Yoga Nidra releases blocked energy that is trapped within
the body-mind, often frozen by anxiety and worry. The release of energy during
relaxation rebalances and harmonizes the body and the deeper mind. Energy that
is released can be used for healing and positive growth.

Removing
tensions allows you to penetrate your awareness into the unconscious areas of
yourself. You become aware of and can connect to your inner abilities and
potential. This expands your sense of self by expanding your awareness of the
deeper and subtler parts of you.

Yoga Nidra therapy

Yoga Nidra is a
yoga meditation technique that can be used in therapy settings to enable people
to recuperate from exhaustion and illness. It can be applied as both primary
therapeutic tool and as an adjunctive treatment for many acute and chronic
physical and psychological disease condition.

06 August, 2012

TheSymbol – ॐ(Om)

Om
pronounced 'ॐ'Om,
is a symbol of the supreme Brahman.Om''ॐ'is
an ‘idol’ representing the divine ideal.It is considered the most powerful word-symbol used for meditation.Brahman is the ultimate Reality
sought by all spiritual practitioners.It cannot be reached directly through human equipment.Brahman is not something you can
perceive with your sense organs.Nor is
it an emotion that you can feel with your mind.Nor a conceptyou can comprehend
with your intellect.Brahman is
the ideal unknown to you. You
need a known idol to reach the unknown ideal.An idol takes you to the ideal.The idol can be either gross or subtle.An example of a gross idol is the stone image in a temple.Fire is a subtler
idol.Sound is the subtlest
of all idols.It is considered subtlest
because only one of the five sense organs viz., the ear can contact it.Of all sounds Om is the most potent,
natural.There are reasons for the
choice of Om:

Kinds
of Sounds:

(i) Sounds are of two kinds – articulate
and inarticulate.Articulate
sound is that which can be represented by letters of the alphabet.The articulate or alphabetical sound is
concerned with topics which deal with the knowledge of the head.The other type of sound is the inarticulate
or intonational.Theinarticulate or intonational sound
deals with the heart.Articulate
sound has a limited application.It is understood only by people who have learnt it through
training.A man comes and speaks to you in
Persian or Russian.You do not
understand him.You have not undergone
that training.He does not know your
language either.Nevertheless when he
begins to laugh you understand him.You
know that he is happy.Suppose you begin
to cry.He understands you are unhappy.This language is inarticulate.It is intonational, a universal language
uttered and understood by even babies and animals.Music is another example of intonation.The sound of music has a marvelous
effect.It produces wonderful
results.

The word 'ॐ'Om
has the advantages of both the articulate and inarticulate, alphabetical and intonational.It has a deep philosophical
significance.You will appreciate it
when you learn its meaning.Besides, the
chant of 'ॐ'Om
has an extraordinary effect on human
beings.It produces harmony, peace and
bliss to one and all.Om brings the
individual being in perfect attunement with the eternal being.

Meaning of the sound OM

(ii)The
proper way to write Om is 'ॐ'A-U-M,
in Sanskrit.According to
Sanskrit grammar(A) (अ) and(U)(उ) when
connected together coalesce into(O).Even the mute can produce the sounds of A_U_M(अ-उ-म्).'A' (अ)is the sound emanating
from the base of the throat.'U' (उ);
is the sound produced by the impulse rolling forward in the mouth.(M) (म्) is
the sound produced by closing the lips.There is no sound beyond these two extremities viz., throat and
lips.So Om'AUm' (अ-उ-म्)covers the full range of sounds.It represents the entire phenomenon of sound.

(iii)The
symbol 'ॐ'(Om) stands for the
pure Consciousness which pervades the three states of waking, dream and
deep-sleep.It is also called pranava.Pranava means something that
pervades life or runs through prana or breath.The sound (pronounced (अ)‘uh’)
according to Vedanta, represents the material world, all that is observed in
the wakeful state of consciousness.The
second sound(pronounced (उ)‘oo’)
represents all the experience of the dream land, the subject and objects of the
dreaming state of consciousness.(pronounced (म्)‘im’)
represents all the unknown in the deep-sleep state of consciousness.While chanting 'ॐ' Om
you will have to concentrate your
attention and put forth feeling in realizing that your Atman,
your Self is the stern Reality pervading the three worlds.

(iv)'ॐ'Om is the real name of
the Almighty.It is the key that unlocks
the kingdom of heaven.This mantra does
not belong to any particular language.The
Hindu took it up.It does not mean that
it belongs to the Hindus.It is a
natural syllable.It is nature’s word,
nature’s mantra.It is the name
of God.Some people discard it because
they believe it comes from Sanskrit, from the Hindus.They reject it on the ground that it is not
their special label.The word 'ॐ' Om
is not subjected to the same conjugation or reflection or other grammatical
manipulations to which all other Sanskrit words are
subjected.So it is not a Sanskrit
word.It is a word of nature, a pure and
genuine word by itself.The Hindus made
good use of it.So can you. 'ॐ'Om occupies a very
prominent place in all languages of the world.Omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent are the highest names for god.They begin with 'ॐ' Om.In your prayers when you reach the point of
silence you utter 'ॐ' Om
in some form or other.In English you
end the prayer with Amen.In Arabic, Persian and Hindustani you say Amin.

In
meditation the mind keeps chanting the mantra 'ॐ' Om.The momentary silence that exists every two
successive chants is called amatra.Amatra represents the pure
Consciousness, the Atman.In the final
stage of meditation your mind is held in single-pointed chant.The function of the intellect is
discrimination between pairs of opposites.Your intellect is engaged in discriminating between Om and amara.In the peak of meditation you must stop the
chant.What follows is absolute Silence.There is no more sound of Om.No thought.With the extinction of the last thought your mind is extinct.There is no longer the pair of sound and
silence.In the absence of pair no
discrimination is possible.Without discrimination
your intellect is extinct as well.Your
mind and intellect are thus transcended in that absolute Silence.That is the sacred moment of
Realisation.Your individual self merges
with the infinite Self.